Gau said the family was halfway through their meals when three-year-old Ryan wandered away from the table.

"I went and grabbed him,” Gau said. ”As I was grabbing him and coming back, the manager was walking to me.”

The manager told the family that the boys were making too much noise, and asked them all to leave. He added that the authorities had already been called – and by the time they left the building, they were confronted by a deputy sheriff.

Gau was given a fine notice for criminal trespassing.

Maliti said she feels “disrespected” by the manager’s actions, adding, “This has never happened in my life."

An Applebee’s spokesperson apologised for what happened, and said the manager hadn’t handled the situation well.

“It is exceedingly rare that a situation requires the assistance of law enforcement, and our franchisee is using this instance as a teaching moment to better manage future disruptions in their restaurants," a statement read.

The family was given free passes for a future dinner at the restaurant, but Gau said he won’t be taking them up on the offer.

"I feel heartbroken. I feel very sad," he said.

7 comments so far

I presume the manager did over react by calling the Police. I expect though, these children were just running wild. The parents should be doing their parenting. Too many times in cafes, kids run wildly coming around other tables picking up the cutlery and disturbing customers. Are we meant to smile and say how cute or do we give the parents a look of judgement? Some parents forget that they are the ones in charge of their children and they are the ones to deal with the situations that occur like this. THe manager, I expect was at his/her wit's end and didn't just call the Police at the first instance of these children carrying on.

Commenter

Gordie

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

September 21, 2013, 9:10AM

Why would children's noisy behaviour in a restaurant carry a charge of "criminal trespassing"? The restaurant was open to the public for business; they may even have displayed a signboard saying they were open; and, the family entered the premises in good faith and was willingly served by the restaurant staff. So, if the family was then charged with criminal trespassing, shouldn't the restaurant staff be charged with something like "aiding and abetting the criminal trespassing" considering that they actually served these "trespassers" with food made from raw materials paid for by the restaurant's owners?

Also, strange that the restaurant staff could not even be bothered to talk to the parents first if they found the children's behaviour troublesome. No; they had to call the police and get this family evicted after labelling them criminal trespassers. They have certainly come across as being maliciously racist.

When the law is misused in this way, it gets weakened over time. When anyone can be a labelled a criminal, no matter what the cause, then the stigma associated with being labeled a criminal diminishes across society, and people would experience diminishing internal inhibitions to breaking laws and engaging in anti-social and criminal activities.

Commenter

Sharan

Location

Date and time

September 21, 2013, 2:08PM

Sharan this happened in the USA. The children's noisy behaviour in a restaurant doesn't constitute "criminal trespass" but failure to leave by the adults does. Even here if the management asks you to leave, and you put up an argument, you can be charged with trespass, if you are disruptive it may be construed as criminal. The manager would not have asked the family to leave if they had not been disruptive. The management asked them to leave, they can only be issued with a citation of criminal trespass by the police if they refused or returned. As to being maliciously racist, that is not supported by anything in this brief article. You only have one side of the story here.

Commenter

Quantum of Solace

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

September 26, 2013, 4:28PM

@Quantum of Solace: "The manager told the family that the boys were making too much noise, and asked them all to leave. He added that the authorities had already been called – and by the time they left the building, they were confronted by a deputy sheriff. "

The police had been called BEFORE the family was asked to leave. They were given no chance to leave. That's NOT criminal trespass.

Commenter

Patrick F

Location

NYS, USA

Date and time

July 27, 2014, 6:42PM

Maybe the manager would have been better off giving the parents a pass to the nearest "How to raise children" course instead of free meal. Blowed if I would have apologised to those parents. Inconsiderate, and pitty the way those poor kids will be brought up. Next generation's anti-social misfits.

Commenter

Namyl

Location

Sydney

Date and time

September 24, 2013, 12:07PM

They would be used to a certain amount of noise and bad behaviour, being a "family" restaurant, so It must have been bad if they were asked to leave. I am sure this man really thought his children behaved acceptably - like all parents who have children that no one likes in their cafe...

Commenter

Joan Bennett

Location

Date and time

January 06, 2014, 1:20PM

How sad and utterly ridiculous! People seem to forget that kids are kids and can not be expected to behave like adults!!! Especially when they are that young. They were probably so excited to be in a restaurant and were just having fun. It's astounding how little patience adults have for kids. Do you all forget that you were once kids too??

It was like a scene from The Exorcist. Two-year-old Taj was spinning on his back in the middle of the airport, screaming in tongues. We'd survived our first overseas flight but not the queue at customs.

18 Jul If more mums felt comfortable enough to feed in public we could get used to seeing breastfeeding as normal, rather than something that should be done ‘discreetly’, behind wraps and capes and closed doors - even toilet doors in some places.

In spite of being in an almost constant state of motion while looking after the kids and trying to keep things together at home, it can seem as though parents have managed to get nothing on the to-do list done by the end of the day.